42. Chapter 42 (1/2)

previously on returning to his roots: chapter 41

donald and draco were back in the office by 4:30 commenting on what an uneventful day it had been. they shared a laugh over the fact that none of them had a case in wales.

donald migrated over to the team4 offices to speak to harry while draco remained behind smiling over hermione's owl. suddenly, donald came rushing back shouting that something had happened to

ian.

dropping hermione's message down on the desk, draco jumped up questioning donald.

"details donald. calm down and give me details. what happened? where is

ian?"

taking a deep

eath, donald handed draco a red alert message from mle.

ots agent

ian ross was attacked at 15:40 while gathering evidence and clearing a criminal scene. mle has apprehended the perpetrators, but mr. ross was injured and has been taken to st mungo's. reports regarding this matter have been turned in as required.

a handwritten notation from mle wished

ian a speedy recovery.

neither donald nor draco stopped to think about anything. their colleague had been injured. how badly they did not know. their only thought was to get to st mungo's. as draco and donald hurried towards the lifts, harry fell in line insisting that he be allowed to accompany them. draco didn't care who accompanied them. all he knew was

ian had been injured.

"tag along if you like potter, but don't get in our way," spat draco as he and donald rushed to the lifts.

harry wasn't offended. years ago, he'd gone through the same thing. it wasn't about ego. it was about rescuing a friend. he told draco and donald he was simply along for support.

"fine," muttered draco as they landed at st mungo's. "we'll need all the bloody support we can get when blaise finds out the team separated and went out on their own without backup. we disregarded rule number one."

harry hesitated for a

ief second before revealing what had already been done. "team4 followed protocol. blaise has already been notified."

draco rolled his eyes at harry, but knew he'd done what was required. he only hoped they had made it there before blaise.

//

returning to his roots: chapter 42

the three wizards caused a stir when they loudly entered st mungo's, and received a distinct roll of the eyes from the witch at the information desk.

"lower your voices please," she snapped in a cranky tone. "there are sick witches and wizards here."

"we don't have time for this," mumbled draco moving closer to the desk. "agent malfoy, ots. just tell us where they've taken agent

ian ross and we'll be glad to leave you to yourself."

rolling her eyes again, this time with a huff, the witch pointed to a line on the board beside her desk that read, fourth floor - spell damage before turning her chair completely away from harry, donald and draco.

draco was not in the mood for the foolishness of some uppity desk clerk and spit out a scathing reply before walking away. "i imagine there wouldn't be any sick witches and wizards sitting in the lobby if you got up off your arse and helped them get to where they need to be."

"well i never," replied the desk witch.

"and you probably never will," draco snapped striding to the lifts with donald and harry close on his heels.

the mood was serious, but harry couldn't resist making a snide remark, "and you never will? she had on a wedding ring."

"poor bastard," muttered draco as the lift stopped at the fourth floor.

the three men hurried to the next desk where a pert, cheery, young healer beckoned for them to follow her explaining

ian's status as they walked. even though

ian had been

ought to the spell damage ward by the medi-wizards, the spell damage was minimal. a spell reversal had been cast and

ian was resting comfortably with nothing more than some slightly burned skin.

harry and donald

eathed a sigh of relief while draco stepped into a private area to send a patronus to blaise advising him that

ian's injuries were minimal and there was no need for him to cut his weekend short.

before draco could stow his wand, blaise's return patronus arrived advising draco that he didn't have any intention of cutting his weekend short. if

ian's injury had been life threatening, he would have received an automatic ministry notice. blaise had a few more choice remarks to make by way of three separate patronuses. he expected a full report on his desk by dawn on monday.

draco walked back to the outer area to find donald and harry missing. the cute, young healer advised him that harry and donald were already in room 410 with

ian.

hurrying down the hall, draco entered the room expecting to find

ian looking like some scaly thing. however, all he found was donald bombarding a very pink

ian with cheeky remarks.

"finally," gasped

ian as he looked up to see draco in the doorway. "if you can see your way clear to make donald shut the fuck up, i'd be ever so grateful. the entire top half of my body feels like it is being pricked by pins. i can do without donald's bull shite for the moment."

donald nudged harry with his elbow. "for someone who can't collect evidence without winding up in st mungo's, you have a lot to say. i suggest…"

"enough donald," quipped draco, cutting across his big mouth teammate. "leave pink boy alone."

while the three wizards smirked over draco's remark,

ian barked out an order. "will one of you comedians find a healer then conjure me a jumper? i'm ready to get out of here. it's time i give up this bed to some poor soul who has real spell damage.

/*/

ian's arms were still a bit stiff, so he, harry and donald stood to the side while draco paid the bill.

"you owe me mr. ross," chuckled a bemused draco.

"really? going there are we? donald would have paid my bill. harry would have paid my bill. i would have paid my own bill had you not jumped to the front of the line. perhaps you haven't noticed i'm moving slower than usual."

"i noticed. why do you think i moved to the head of the line? it would have been saturday before your slow arse reached the payment window. i insist that you go home. donald and i will finish out the afternoon. hermione and i plan a night out this evening. i think it would be fortuitous if she and i stop by to insure you haven't dried into a crisp."

"i'll take a pass on that visit," remarked

ian with a serious screw face. "thank you, but i won't have your witch chuckling over my par-boiled countenance. i have the healer's instructions and remedies. i'll be fine. thank you for the thought."

as usual, donald had a reply all ready. "no worries mate. i don't have a date. i'll pick up some takeaway and come over. we can spend the evening discussing you know who."

with a wide grin, draco softly uttered, "fuck you both. let's get out of here so those who are fit for work can get back to ots."

they all filed out of st mungo's with draco, harry and donald apparating away to the ministry while the very pink

ian

aced himself for a painful jump to his flat.

/*/

severus had been working feverishly on his lovely, detached home all day friday. there were several imminent repairs that needed to be made, but like any superior wizard, severus had the repairs done in well under three hours. a few spells here and there and the home had been ready to receive his furnishings, sparse as they were.

standing back looking at his handy work, severus was pleased, with himself as well as the house. the repairs had been a walk in the park compared to what had to be done when he first purchased the property in oregon. although, much smaller than his oregon property, his new home was spacious and private, perfectly suited to his needs. earlier, he had taken a few minutes to order the necessaries, bedroom and living room furniture along with a few utensils and other essentials which were scheduled to be delivered before nightfall.

along with repairing and furnishing his new home, severus had set aside time to review the replies which had arrived in answer to his call for workers. he had charged elder with

inging the mail to his new home, and the house elf had done just that. several workers had sent their regrets, but most had kept their word and would be ready as soon as severus set a firm date. he was disappointed with the few, but happy with the rest. he had set the owls aside to finish up the repairs. however, by the time he had time to get back to the messages, delivery wizards were at his door with his purchases.

/*/

part of the delivery contract was for the delivery wizards to set everything up to severus' satisfaction which he allowed them to do. with a wary eye on the delivery wizards, severus set about reviewing the messages. the quarters he had acquired for workers was standing ready for its occupants. all severus had to do was give the go ahead. he could have them working on side projects while he got the main project going. with that in mind, severus invited those who agreed to come to come.

the delivery wizards had completed their job and gone. severus wasn't one to use the word perfectly too often, but in this case, that's how he felt. everything had been done perfectly. severus had one last thing to do before sitting down to dinner. he had to go back to malfoy manor to insure his borrowed wing was in order. lucius and narcissa had been good enough to offer him shelter. it would be unseemly of him to leave even the slightest thing out of order.

/*/

after a detailed walk through his temporary housing, severus was sure he'd left everything as he found it. he had a quick conversation with missy and elder advising them he had finished moving house and would like any future owls to be directed to his new home.

elder spoke for both elves.

"yes mr. severus sir. we be forwarding your owls. master lucius say we to take care of you, so we been taking care of you. we's sad to see you go, but we knowing where you went."

already in a fairly lighthearted mood, severus smiled at the elf. "you and missy have done your job well. i'll be sure to put in a good word with lucius. you may tell mr. lucius i will see him after he gets settled."

"yes sir mr. severus. i'll tell him."

/*/

severus left the manor stopping only to get a bit of takeaway for his dinner. the first steps in the project had been taken. on to the next. over the next hour, severus ate a leisurely dinner while reading past copies of the daily prophet he hadn't been able to get to.

owsing the pages, severus came across a small notice regarding kingsley's plans to set up additional departments in the coming days.

severus was pleased that the legal notification had been made, the quarters in devon were ready, and the group now had a private area to hold the project meetings. severus had thought about holding the meetings in his new home, but decided he valued his privacy too much to have people trampling about. there was more than enough space at the contractors compound to set aside a designated meeting area.

thinking about the witches and wizards who would be arriving in the coming days, turned severus' thoughts to hermione and the group spell she was supposed to be tweaking. his hand automatically reached out for paper and pen, but he hastily drew it back. hermione wasn't a child who had to be nagged into submission. if she said she would have the spell ready in time for the first meeting, she would.

severus bathed and went to bed a fairly happy wizard.

/*/

terry easily won his case, and gloria watched his pompous arse strut around the courtroom like some king rooster. my time is coming, gloria thought as she laughed to herself. she and terry would probably end up trying to out strut each other.

terry approached gloria and stood over her. "so, there you have it. you've seen the master at work. what do you think?"

"i think," replied gloria. "that you might not want hermione to hear you claiming the spot which clearly belongs to her."

a faint tinge of red appeared on terry's cheeks as he hastily backtracked. "leave it to the new witch to misconstrue my words. i meant the master at this place and time. will you wait while i gather my things, or shall we meet back in my office to go over the case. i'd like to hear your thoughts."

"sounds good. i need to make a stop in the ladies then grab a tea. i'll meet you upstairs."

terry saw an opportunity. "i'd like a tea as well. why don't i meet you in the food service area? we'll

ing tea back for everyone. see you in a bit."

a puzzled gloria was now sure terry was flirting with her. she just didn't know why.

/*/

after leaving the ladies, gloria headed for the lunch area only to spot terry conversing with a slightly thick, slightly pretty witch with extremely long hair. hastily changing course, gloria nearly ran up the heels of anthony goldstein who gazed upon her with a wide grin.

"careful there miss isles or you'll knock me over."

an embarrassed gloria apologized then tried to step around anthony, but became even more embarrassed when they both moved in the same direction at the same time.

"it seems we are destined to dance," said anthony moving his hand in a sweeping gesture. "ladies first."

gloria turned her head to smile at anthony looking up in time to see terry staring at her over della's head.

mind your manners mr. boot, she thought, moving to the tea service area where she made eight cups of tea to go. conjuring a box to carry the tea, gloria was about to head to the lifts when anthony appeared at her side taking four of the cups from the box.

"although it's a bit out of the way, it would be my pleasure to help you carry your order."

nodding, gloria allowed anthony to assist her. what an afternoon, she thought. wizards coming at me left, right and center. what a little change in title can do.